Term
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Definition
| Sheet of cells joined tightly together with little or no extracellular matrix (i.e. linings, membranes, etc). They are polarized with a free (apical) side facing a lumen (e.g. exposed space, like the mouth, outside for skin, inside of intestine for intestines) and a basal surface on a basal lamina. They are avascular and overlie connective tissue |
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Definition
| Cells spatially separated by varying degrees of extracellular material (i.e. bone with it's calcium phosphate, blood with it's plasma...) |
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Term
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Definition
| Cells specialized for contraction |
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Term
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Definition
| Cells specialized for impulse conduction and supporting cells |
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Term
| 4 overarching types of tissues |
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Definition
| Nerve, Muscle, Connective, and Epithelial |
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Term
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Definition
| Side of an epithelial cell that is closer to the Lumen, or open space |
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Term
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Definition
| Side of an epithelial cell that is closer to the connective tissue, or basal lamina, or basement membrane |
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Term
| Parafin Technique for Preparing Sections |
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Definition
- Fix the sample with a fixing solution (i.e. formaldehyde or more commonly, formalin)
- Dehydrate the sample with alcohol, and clear it with xylol (paraffin is soluble in xylol)
- Embed the sample in paraffin for sectioning
- Section the sample into thin slices using a microtome
- Stain the sample with an organic dye to enhance contrast |
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Term
| Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) |
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Definition
| The most common staining technique there is, based on acidophilic / basophilic polarization of molecules |
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Term
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Definition
| Basic blue stain, binds to acidic regions of the cell (basophilic sections) such as DNA, RNA, and ribosomes. Therefore the nucleus, among other things, is usually stained blue |
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Term
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Definition
| Acidic pink stain that labels basic regions of the cytoplasm or regions rich in proteins, since they're usually slightly basic (and therefore acidophilic) |
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Term
| Resolving power of light, SEM, and TEM microscopes |
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Definition
Light: 0.25um
SEM: 10nm
TEM: 0.2nm |
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Term
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Definition
| A molecule with a specific binding site that fits only one or a few molecules (antigens) |
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Term
| 3 Reporter systems for antibody binding |
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Definition
| Enzymes, fluorochromes, and particulate probes |
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Term
| Fluorochrome Reporting system |
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Definition
| Usually attached to a secondary antibody, the fluorochrome gets stuck in one location when the secondary antibody attaches onto its antigen (the primary antibody, which has connected to the target molecule). Sometimes tertiary antibodies are involved. |
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Term
| Ezymatic Targeting Mechanisms |
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Definition
| An enzyme (such as horseradish peroxidase) is attached to a secondary antibody, and the enzymatic activity produces something visible (often a precipitate of some kind) which localizes at the site of the sought-after antigen |
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Term
| Particulate Probe Reporting System |
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Definition
| Usually colloidial gold is attached to a secondary antibody, which is electron-rich enough to be very obvious in electron micrographs. Different sizes of gold particles can be used to identify different antigens! |
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